The numbers of vacant seats in the state after completion of the FYJC admissions were 1.81 lakh in 2020-2021 and 1.9 lakh in 2019-2020.
This year, the Centralised Admission Process (CAP) committee held the first four rounds in the online mode. The rest of the admissions was held on the first-come-first-serve basis on the central admission portal. Altogether 1,66,632 seats (33.25% of the total intake) are still lying vacant in the five metropolitan regions of the state. Nagpur has the highest vacancy at 43%, followed by Amravati (35%) and Pune (34%).
CAP committee conducts online centralized admissions in the five metropolitan areas of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik and Amravati. In the rest of the areas, admissions are conducted at the college level.
For example, In Pune, CAP conducts admissions online in a centralized manner for all junior colleges in the Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic areas. But junior colleges in the Pune rural area are not a part of this.
Madhuri Chittewan, principal of Dr Kalmadi Shamarao Junior College, said while both arts and commerce divisions were full, the science division had vacancies. She said, “The vacancy in the science division started since the pandemic started last year. One possible reason for the vacancies can be that students from outside Pune are not enrolling in science because they are not sure whether the practical classes will be held or not. As this is not the case with online classes in commerce and arts, more students have got enrolled in these two departments instead of science.”
Chittewan said financial crunch in families triggered by the pandemic could also be a reason that many people did not send their wards to bigger cities. “Another reason can be that many students who would have opted for science might have gone for vocational or other technical courses,” she said.
Meena Shendkar, the assistant director of education, had told TOI during the admission process that there were lower registrations this year.
“Many students are not travelling to cities due to the fear of contracting Covid-19. They are choosing colleges nearby to complete their classes XI and XII,” she said.
“Pune used to get a high number of students from other parts of the state — especially Marathwada and Vidarbha. The number is now reducing. The renowned colleges are, however, still getting good responses. Seats in such colleges are getting filled in the first three or four rounds of the Centralised Admission Process,” Shendkar said.
Medha Sinnarkar, principal of Laxmanrao Apte Prashala, said the college had only one vacant seat.
“A student left the college after taking admission. Our classes have also started in both the offline and online modes. The number of students from outside has comparatively reduced.”
